Sunday, October 17, 2010

Meaning, all fixtures were circa 1992. If our house was a person - it would be wearing a scrunchie - and possibly some stone washed Guess jeans.

The other day feeling inspired by an etsy light fixture I saw for $70...I decided to give our sad little entryway light an update.

Here it is in all of its brass glory.

And here it is post makeover.

It makes me happy that people are welcomed into our home with an updside-down mason jar.

To do the makeover - we just turned off the breaker switch - unscrewed the fixture and I spray painted away. We let everything dry and put it back. Then I just set the mason jar on top and called it day.

Total cost? $3.67 for a can of black spray paint. I already had the jar.

When something is uglier than ug to begin with - you really can't ruin it. Totally takes the fear out of decorating for me!

Here's a fun blog with a links to more DIY projects - if you need any inspiration!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Last night I had the itch to sew. Not knowing what to sew and running out of fabric fast, I began to scour the house for something I could transform.

Or TRY to transform.

I landed on these chenille throw pillows.

(dont judge my lack of baseboard...that's another project!)

My mother in law bought us these because Josh really loves chenille. (And just to defend his manliness I will tell you that chenille is the only type of fabric he knows the name of.)

Anyways, as you can see we have been huge fans of these pillows. We have used them quite a bit. Josh even packs these up if we go out of town. Ha. That's how much this man loves chenille my friends.

But now they are left looking a bit lumpy and sad. Not wanting to get rid of them (hoarder alert), I attempted to refashion them. Loved their golden harvest-y color and thought they might make a lovely pumpkin. (These days, if I am not spray painting things...I am turning them into pumpkins).

Well, it took a few tries - and I am sad to say a complete and total "I suck at everything crafty" pity party for myself until I came up with this.

Which I think is a halfway decent pillow turned pumpkin.

Should you be interested into turning your old lumpy pillows into a stuffed vegetable, it's really quite simple.

I cut open the entire pillow like so.

Then I sewed the edges back up and made a gathering stitch at the bottom.

I stuffed it back up with it's old stuffing, put a rubberband at the top (I told you I am a bad seamstress) and wrapped a ribbon around it like I was wrapping a gift. Twine would also work and may look a bit more natural than plaid ribbon...but it is what it is:) I added some harvest bling and stuck a stick in the top for a stem. Voila. Lumpy pillow turned pumpkin.

Friday, October 1, 2010

So, I am not the proud owner of a sewing machine. Getting older does indeed have its perks!

I am soooo far from being the next (um...insert name of famous sewer - betsy ross?) but am having fun annoying my husband by sewing him super ghetto random items insisting he uses them. Because everyone needs a call phone slipcover made out of damask fabric. Especially a man.

Anyways, tonight, in ten minutes I made a wonderful tote bag out of a tee shirt!

Now - I am certainly not going to be carrying this bag with me to the mall - but I think I could make a small bag for my husbands lunch or make some bags to carry groceries in!

There's just something so satisfying about carrying something you have sewn. You feel like Mrs. Duggar, I mean minus the 18 kids and all.

Anyways, all you do is cut off the sleeves of an old tee shirt. Then cut a bigger neckline. THEN sew up the bottom of the shirt. And voila....ghetto fab tee shirt bag!

Good for the environment and also for the decluttering of tee shirt drawers everywhere.